A CALL FOR CRITIQUE

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

---

Heritage institutions require thoughtful critique. Steeped in colonialism and built upon patriarchal structures, museums, and cultural spaces alike, need consistent criticism to transform these often exclusionary spaces. However, the question remains as to how to ignite such interventions, especially as someone who has, whether knowingly or unknowingly, become entrenched in museum practice. When looking to gain perspective on how to challenge the museum I often turn to those that display themselves and their work inside of such institutions: artists.

Artists have been critiquing the museum for decades now. The concept of institutional criticism began in the late 1960s as artists began to create art in reaction to the very institutions that purchased and exhibited their work. During this time, art institutions were often perceived to be a place of ‘cultural confinement’ that was not fulfilling its mandate to operate for the good of the public--the very concept in which facilitated their creation in the first place. Creatively walking the line as both an insider and outsider, artists continue to challenge society’s perception of museums in contrast to the reality of their often unethical forms of practice, resourcefully resolving such conflicting tensions.

Robert Houle, an Anishinaabe Saulteaux and prolific artist, exemplifies the power of institutional critique. Houle’s artistic career has been critical of colonial structures, focusing on injustices such as cultural appropriation in museums and art galleries. He writes, “exclusion from Western representation is deeply rooted in and even protected by a structure that authorizes and legitimizes certain representations while blocking, prohibiting or invalidating others”. Some of Houle’s most poignant artistic interventions are exemplified in Toronto’s very own Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

In 1985 Houle encountered an installation by German artist Lothar Baumgarten. The AGO invited Baumgarten to produce a site-specific work for Walker Court--the center and heart of the Gallery--as part of the exhibit The European Iceberg: Creativity in Germany and Italy Today. Baumgarten created Monument for the Native People of Ontario, which was meant to pay homage to eight nations. Houle appreciated the artist’s gesture, but was displeased with his lack of research. Printed on the walls in large Roman type, some of the names were misspelled, and linguistic groups, regions, tribes, and bands were intermingled with no distinction. Furthermore, Baumgarten’s felt right to document the names was extremely unsettling.

Robert Houle, Anishnabe Walker Court, 1993, site-specific installation at Walker Court, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Throughout the 1980s in Canada, contemporary Indigenous art was still being debated by artists and curators as to whether it had a place in mainstream art galleries or if such works should remain in anthropological museums. When Houle responded to Baumgarten’s installation with Anishnabe Walker Court, he affirmed Indigenous Arts’ place in contemporary art galleries. Houle re-appropriated the German artist’s tribal names, placing them in quotation marks and re-inscribing them in lowercase letters on the outer walls surrounding the Court. Houle also featured documentation of the historic changes made to the space over time, commenting on how colonial institutions, such as the AGO, improperly and offensively memorialized individuals and history. In 2008, when the AGO underwent their major renovation, these names were removed and Houle asserted his presence once again with his work Seven Grandfathers. 

Robert Houle, Ojibwa, from Anishnabe Walker Court preliminary study #8, 1994, collage, electrographic prints on wove paper, 43.5 x 35.5 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Robert Houle, Study #10 (for Anishnabe Walker Court), 1994, gelatin silver print, photocopy, ink on coloured plastic sheet, vinyl self-adhesive letters, black porous point marker, graphite on paper, resin-coated photographic paper, and coloured transparent sheet, 43.2 x 35.7 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Today, Seven Grandfathers boldly hangs in the place where Baumgarten’s work once did. Commissioned to coincide with the 2014 exhibition Before and after the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes, the work consists of seven abstract paintings that resemble ceremonial drums. Seven Grandfathers reveals the “concepts of respect, and sharing that form the foundation of an Anishnabe way of life”. Each disc corresponds to an animal spirit and imparts one of the sacred teachings of Anishinaabe culture to AGO visitors. 

Robert Houle, Seven Grandfathers, 2014, oil on canvas, digital prints, Mylar, watercolour on paper, seven site-specific works, each 20.3 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Museum professionals can learn from the artists in which they exhibit. Skillfully practicing a sense of duality, reflecting on both the museum and the communities surrounding them, artists critique heritage institutions with intent and inspired innovation. Stepping foot into the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Walker Court visitors are impressed with a space of seeming inclusivity that displays art such as Seven Grandfathers. While this artwork is likely recognized as a result of self-reflection by museum staff, I credit and thank Robert Houle for this systematic shift in the Gallery and museums more broadly. I hope in reading on Robert Houle’s practice, this article will implore people to not only thoughtfully look at museum spaces but listen to what others outside of the museum world have to say.

Next time you’re visiting the AGO make sure to glance up in Walker Court and take a look at Robert Houle’s artwork. You now know a history that I hope will inspire you just as much as it did me.